Open Source Reports

1. ReportLab Open Source
   ReportLab, since its early beginnings, has been a strong supporter of open-source. In the past we have found the feedback and input from our open-source community an invaluable aid to the development of our products, and we wish to encourage the widest possible use and the maximum amount of benefit for our users in the future. Because of this, we have released as open-source:
   * The ReportLab Open Source PDF library (the ReportLab Toolkit) - our proven industry-strength PDF generating solution, that you can use for meeting your requirements and deadlines in reporting systems
   * PyRXP - the fastest validating XML parser available for Python, and quite possibly anywhere.
   * Preppy - ReportLab's versatile text-preprocessor
   * PythonPoint - make your very own presentations that can be viewed by anyone with a PDF-viewer.
                                                           
2. Report: Open Source a Judgment Standard
   Open Source is changing the way that Gartner Group measures the application development market. The big loser as a result may well be proprietary Java application development tools. Laurie F. Wurster, research director at Gartner Research, explained that Gartner has undergone a major change in methodology. Previous to this year we counted new license revenue," Wurster told internetnews.com. "This year we're doing total software revenue, which includes license revenue. It also includes updates/upgrades. It includes subscriptions and ASP models. We also include support revenue and maintenance contracts. We feel this is a better long-term predictor of the market especially as markets start to mature," Wurster added.  
                                                  
3. LinuxPlanet - Reports
   As organizations bring more and more open source software into their IT environments, they are beginning to realize the need for more control. Decisions about whether or not to incorporate open source into their operations involve complex issues that go beyond the technology. With over two dozen approved open source licenses, compliance can be tricky. Requirements are different for code used internally and code distributed to external users. Code contributed to open source projects by employees could have licensing problems, or may not be approved for release. Compliance can be difficult to control wherever development is outsourced. The budgetary impact should also be considered for every possible open source migration. It's time for an open source policy. There are many factors that will contribute to your overall success in mitigating the inherent risks of open source software use. 
                                                 
4. Reports made easy with JasperReports
   Generating reports is a common, if not always glamorous, task for programmers. In the past, report generation has largely been the domain of large commercial products such as Crystal Reports. Today, the open source JasperReports report generating library gives Java developers a viable alternative to commercial software. JasperReports provides the necessary features to generate dynamic reports, including data retrieval using JDBC (Java Database Connectivity), as well as support for parameters, expressions, variables, and groups. JasperReports also includes advanced features, such as custom data sources, scriptlets, and sub reports. All in all, JasperReports combines good features, maturity, community participation, and, best of all, it's free.
   
   
5. Open Source Convention Report
   The Open Source Conference began slowly on Sunday, with lots of people unpacking, constructing booths, connecting wires, registering for tutorials, and meeting their friends from last year. The lobbies of the two conference hotels were full of people lugging the day's freebies off to their hotel rooms. In the Monterey Conference Center's Dana Room, however, one group of attendees was already hard at work at the all-day, O'Reilly-sponsored Open Documentation Summit. The goal of this meeting was to gather those people who are interested in finding a way to improve the documentation accompanying open source software. Some of the issues are controversial and have generated friction among various camps in the open source development community and publishers. Representatives from all the camps were invited to the summit.